Just Breathe
by Aradia-rising
Summary: PostDMC. A girl exploring a haunted house gets thrown into POTC with a grudge against Elizabeth and a soft spot for Will. WillOC
1. Holy Hell

So I just went to see DMC and am absolutely heartbroken on Will's behalf. And because I haven't seen nearly enough Jack/Elizabeth Will/OC pairings that deal with post-DMC storylines I'm throwing my hat into the ring. Be warned however: This is my first Pirate fanfiction- so if you're going to give me a bad review, at least make it constructive.

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South Padre Island- July 5th, 2006: 12:25 AM 

'How do I get myself into these messes? I don't even _like_ haunted houses.' I thought to myself as I looked up at the decrepit old mansion, breathing deeply.

"Lily, come on! You'll be fine, I promise!" Dallas cried, waving down at me.

I sighed and made my way up to my friends. "That's what you said at the Rocky Horror Picture Show screening"

"And you were fine!" Jan protested, pushing the door open.

"Until that wannabe rapist started hitting on me! He had to be pried off my leg and kicked out of the theater." I replied, rolling my eyes.

"That's because you looked so hot." Ruth teased, and I shoved her into a low wall in the entryway.

"Shut up. I think he was wasted on so many levels he would have banged a theater seat."

James shook his head and threw his arm around me, as I turned on my flashlight. "No, it was you. You looked so fuckin' hot in that outfit. I'll have to remind your boyfriend to have you wear corsets more often."

"Yeah, because he wants a dead girlfriend." I shot back sarcastically "I couldn't breathe the whole movie."

"Well if he's into that sort of thing…" Jan giggled, then paled as we heard a cracking noise coming from upstairs.

"Lily, you go first." Dallas pushed me forward towards the staircase. She, James and Jan switched on their flashlights as well, while Ruth clung to James' sleeve. The stairs creaked horribly, which generally I find quaint, but when you're in a haunted house just past midnight, it's not quite as charming. At the top of the stairs was a long hallway, with three doors on either side.

"Let's check it out. James, you go with Ruth, and Jan and I can go together." Dallas suggested shakily, and everyone nodded.

'Wait a second' I thought, entering the first room. 'Whose with me?' The door slammed shut as I heard a firework go off. I spun around and tried opening the door with no luck. I dropped my flashlight and started to bang my fists against the wood. "Let me out! Somebody help me! Let me outta here! Let me out!" The door swung open and I came face to face with a very short bald man, in broad daylight.

"Where did you come form?" he cried, "Captain!"

'Captain?' I wondered. Then I took in my surroundings.

"Holy hell." I breathed.

I was on a ship.


	2. Evil Undead Monkey

So it _will _be a bit until the next chapter, but that's because I want to finish it and then start on the fourth one, the way I did with this one. But I will update ASAP, promise!

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I had seen Pirates of the Caribbean, both of them actually and enjoyed them very much. However, I wasn't such a big fan as to go to the midnight showing, or to really care about pirate talk, but at that moment even I recognized Geoffrey Rush- sorry, Captain Barbossa- walking toward me with his sword drawn.

'Shit, I am so dead' I thought panicking. 'C'mon Lily, think fast' "Um, please don't hurt me. I uh, come in peace?" I quickly raised my hand in a peace sign and smiling nervously. 'Yeah, that was brilliant'

"Well lass, how did you come to be on my ship? We don't take kindly to stowaways." The evil undead monkey tilted his head and screamed, making me lean back quickly.

"T-to –to be honest Captain I don't know. I was trying to get out of a locked room and then I fell out here, literally." I walked back towards the door I fell out of and noticed a large hemp sack that looked like it had something in it. I picked it up- much to the distress of now just about the entire crew.

"We outta give her a lifeboat, we're not too far from land. Tis frightfully bad luck havin' a woman aboard Captain." Gibbs said in sort of a stage whisper.

"And what is she? A duck?" I cried motioning to Elizabeth, who had been staring at me with interest. Half a dozen swords were drawn and pointed at me. I raised my hands to my ears, dropping the bag. "Shutting up now."

"She's not dangerous." I heard a voice say, but all I could see was a tall male body outlined against the sun. "And if she's here, she was sent here for a reason." The person walked down the steps and came into partial shadows, so I could see who it was.

"Fudgebuckets" I breathed. It was the heartbroken face of Will Turner. He was tall, far taller than I though he'd be- I barely came to his shoulder when he reached for the nearly forgotten bag and motioned me to follow him.

"The best place for you would be away from the rest of the crew. It may take some time for them to trust you, and until then you'll be safe here." Will led me to a smallish room below deck. It had what looked to be a full size bed that was made up with shabby once-white sheets, as well as a small wooden commode with a ceramic pitcher and bowl and a towel. He set my bag down near a large steamer trunk next to the door and turned to leave.

"Wait! I can, um, sleep with the crew. I wouldn't want to put you out." I said shyly, feeling myself turn red.

"You won't be, as I already sleep with the crew. You'll be sharing the room someone else." Will's eyes held a flash of pain in them, and I knew exactly whom he was referring to.

"Elizabeth." I whispered nodding.

He looked up quickly. "How do you know her name?" He demanded.

I sighed. Better to tell him the truth I suppose, rather than coming up with a complicated lie. "Well you see, before I came falling through the door on the front of the ship, I was in a haunted house with some of my friends. And see, where I'm from- this isn't real." At Will's look I hurried to clear things up "Well some of the places are real, but Jack Sparrow- Captain, sorry- isn't all that famous. In fact the whole reason I know any of this is because I saw a movie about all this. From meeting Elizabeth to Jack escaping Norrington. Then we jumped to you getting arrested and ended with you at Tia Dalma's and rejoining Barbossa. I know nearly everything that happened in that time from either Elizabeth's, Jack's or your point of view. Except if Jack is alive or not."

Will's eyebrows shot up at this, "Of course he's dead, if you know all of this then you must have seen the Kraken take Jack."

I shook my head. "I went from him saying 'hello beastie' and diving into it, sword drawn- to the lifeboat watching The Pearl go down." I sighed. "At any rate, I saw what Elizabeth did, and I know you saw her do it. But even if she manages to talk herself out of it, know that that was not the only moment she lusted for Captain Jack Sparrow."

Will furrowed his brow and looked up at the ceiling where footsteps could be heard through the floor. "I will leave you here to get settled. You are welcome on the deck so long as you help or stay out from underfoot."

I nodded as he left. "Thank you Will." I heard a murmured assent and he closed the door.


	3. There’s no place like home

So I'm just getting started on chapter 4, but right now I'm shot for a real plot. I mean I have three of four minor events I want to happen, but as for a big picture... Nada. So I appologize in advance.

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Oh, wait, must disclaim: **I own nothing but Lily, Dallas, Ruth, Jan, and James. _But mostly Lily._**

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I decided after a few minutes of tapping my heels together that while it worked for Dorothy, saying 'there's no place like home' over and over wasn't going to do me any good. I leaned over the edge of the bed to reach my bag. It probably wasn't even my bag, I thought. Probably filled with dead fish, or empty rum bottles. I pulled open the top of the sack and realized that while it may not have been mine previously, this bag was for my use. It contained a small dagger, a sack of gold pieces, an oversized shirt, as well as a pair of loose pants, a wide belt, a heavy wannabe trench coat, two pairs of boots and a leather hat. For some reason it also contained a high crop top, a pair of short shorts, and a skirt that poufed out slightly and fell to about my knees. I decided my Romeo and Juliet shirt and jeans weren't quite the way to blend in with the crew, so I quickly pulled on the shirt and pants, and slid on the boots with the lower heel. I elected not to put on the hat, as it was reminiscent of Jack's and I didn't want to bring that up, now did I? 

Coming above deck it seemed like I had stepped back into the first day of high school, rather than a Pirate ship. The men were gathered in circles whispering and glancing at the door I fell out of, which apparently hadn't always been there. As I approached the groups they fell silent, giving me that awful feeling you get when you walk up to people and realize they were just talking about you, which they were of course.

I looked up at the steering wheel thing and saw Will in a deep conversation with Barbossa. Even though they didn't quite show it, I had a feeling they were arguing about me. As I got a little closer I could hear them better.

"We don't even know her name, much less who sent her. She doesn't even know what she's getting herself into." Barbossa said harshly.

"She knows what's happening, she's told me things that have happened since meeting Jack. Perhaps Tia Dalma sent her." Will replied angrily.

I realized it was true, no one had asked for my name, and I was so shell-shocked in being plopped here that I never gave it. I came out from my hiding spot under the stairs and joined the two bickering pirates.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything," I said shyly, "But I wanted to at least tell you who I was. My name is Lillian Groves, but I would very much prefer to be called Lily."

"Captain Barbossa, although to hear Turner tell it, you already know that. Now if I can ask, how'd you come to be so knowledgeable about this whole mess?" Barbossa leaned in much closer than I would have liked in an attempt to intimidate me. I say attempt because Will carefully turned me to face him instead.

"That's really none of your business, is it Barbossa? The point is, she can be trusted." Will put a protective hand around my wrist, and I shot him a grateful look.

"As Captain I say it is my business and Miss Groves shan't be left alone until I say so." Barbossa stared at Will through beady eyes and I sighed.

"Captain, if you'd really care to know how I know everything, might we continue in a more secluded spot?" I gestured to the crew who seemed _very _interested in the conversation.

"Agreed." Will said quickly, ushering Barbossa and myself down the stairs and into what I assumed was the Captain's quarters. "By the way, what's a movie?"

I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time since I'd arrived. "A movie is sort of like a moving picture I guess. It's like when you can remember something in perfect detail, but then being able to show others as well. It's hard to explain." Barbossa and Will each had blank looks on their faces and I rolled my eyes. "Moving picture with sound, let's stick with that definition. And one of these moving pictures was about a young blacksmith who was in love with the governor's daughter. She was kidnapped by undead pirates and the blacksmith teamed up with another pirate to rescue her. Turns out the pirate was after the undead ship, but all turned out well in the end, where the good pirates get away, the undead ones are dead, and the young lovers tell each other their true feelings." Will looked slightly angry at this. "But of course that's only the first movie. The second one involves Davey Jones and Jack's soul, and Will meeting his father, Norrington being almost pirate-like, and Elizabeth making out with a guy old enough to be her dad. And let's not forget our favorite undead pirate is alive again, which I don't fully understand, but what can ya do?"

The look of shock on the two men's faces was too much. I started to giggle, quietly at first but then it turned to full-fledged laugher. After I had gotten a hold of myself I noticed that Will's expression was one I hadn't seen lately, a smile. Not a real one mind you, but it was a start.


	4. Discovery Channel

Author's note- because I want to put semi-meaningless info here(And because I don't think a fic looks right without some Author stuff at the beginning.): The Lady Washington was actually the boat that was used in the first POTC movie, as the Interceptor, and they do give tours to school groups. I went on one in Elementary School, and my little brother was almost born on the beach!

Also, here is the first converstaion (sorta) between Lily and Elizabeth, hope you enjoy- I know I did.

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So skipping ahead to after I explained how I knew everything and (to my best estimate) how I got here, I decided to help with the ship- somehow. 

"I can learn to cook, really! I didn't mean to I swear!" I tried to make amends as I was shoved out of the kitchen, which at this point was rapidly filling up with smoke. I coughed a few times to release the putrid smell, then went to report to Barbossa, to see if there was _anything_ I might be able to help with.

"Just stay outta the way, lass. You needn't be doin' any hard labor when there's such a fine crew to be doin' it." Which I took to mean 'In order to keep the ship in one piece, stay out of the goddamn way.' I saw Will up hanging from the mast, checking the sails or something I guessed, and waited until he started down to approach him.

"Can you think of _anything_ I can do that's completely goof-proof?" I asked smiling. My grin increased when I saw his confused face and realized I was speaking 'future'. "So simple a drunk man could do it easily." I clarified.

Will furrowed his brow. "I suppose swabbing the deck is easy enough, but you really don't have to- the crew has everything under control."

I rolled my eyes. "But it's the principle of the thing. I hate feeling useless, I want to be able to help, or occupied or something!" Will put his hand on my shoulder and I noticed Elizabeth's eyes on the two of us. _Yeah, because she totally has a reason to be so territorial. Hypocrite._

"How about I teach you about sailing? You said most people don't sail anymore, didn't you?"

I smiled, "Not like this." I looked around at the large ship. The only time I had ever seen anything like the ship I was on was when I was six, taking a school tour of The Lady Washington.

"Well, The Screaming Serpent is a Schooner, which means it is rigged with fore and aft sails on two masts." Will pointed to the two telephone pole-like stakes coming out of the deck. "In a Schooner the foremast is usually taller than the mainmast, but here it is the same height. Schooners are used primarily by smugglers and pirates for its speed, we are using this one to get to Jack faster."

I looked up at the sails billowing in the wind. "But what makes this ship any faster than another one?"

The corner of his mouth turned up slightly. "It has a very shallow draftand when using a square topsail you can reach eleven knots in a good wind."

I leaned back against the mast. "Okay, now I'm really confused. What's a draft, and a topsail, and what's the difference between a foremast and a mainmast?"

"When a ship has a shallow draft it means that the keel floats just under the water line; a topsail is set above the gaff of a lower sail; a foremast is the mast nearest the front of the ship, and the mainmast it what you're leaning against." Will placed his hand on the mast, which also happened to be a little above my shoulder, placing him closer than 18th century culture dictates proper.

"And -last question I swear- what a gaff?"

He pointed to a horizontal piece of wood separating the two sails. "The gaff is that piece of wood right there. If you stand right here you can see the carvings sailors have made on it."

I carefully maneuvered myself to a spot where I could comfortably see, while still keeping close physical distance between myself and Will. "Oh yeah, that's really cool. Back home we had a tree everyone used to carve in. Couples and best friends and all-"

"You wench!" I narrowly escaped a sword in the cheek by the obviously pissed Elizabeth. "How dare you try to seduce _my_ fiancé!"

My jaw dropped and I looked at Will. "You're still engaged to her? After what she did? You _saw_ what she did Will, and you're still with her?"

If there was anyone _not_ interested by what was going on before, they were now. "Will, no." Elizabeth said desperately. "I was trying to convince him to stay behind. It was the only way we could get free!"

"Yeah, by chaining him to his ship!" I cried. _Oh shit._ Elizabeth brandished her sword at me, moving in like a tiger on the discovery channel, stalking a poor innocent monkey. "You're the reason we're all out here," I yelled frantically, knocking over barrels to provide a barrier between me and the tiger. "And you would have sucked face with him even if it wasn't the last chance you had!" I climbed up the mast- not gracefully at all I might add- and hung from a rope, kicking at her sword. "You want to know why it took so long to find the chest? Because that compass, it doesn't point north. It points to where your heart wants most. And Elizabeth's heart kept pointing to Jack Sparrow!" I finally managed to kick the sword from her hand and dropped onto the deck, which also happened to be on Elizabeth. I jumped up quickly and ran towards a room I had passed on the way above deck. I slammed the door behind me and shoved three barrels against the door, sitting on the fourth. _Oh god, what have I done?_

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Also, I looked up all the ship information so I believe it's accurate. But if at any point it's not, please let me know and I'll change it ASAP. 


	5. Next time won't you sing with me?

Yes, I know it's been a while, but I left for Colorado right after finishing this chapter and couldn't get it to upload onto fan fiction. So sorry, but here it is, enjoy!

A while later I heard a knock on the door. "Lily? It's Will. You can come out now."

I rolled the barrels away from the door and cracked it open. "Elizabeth's been sedated?"

Will shook his head. "She's above deck, but we've worked everything out." He looked towards the sun streaming through the doorway. "I'm afraid though I won't be able to teach you any more about sailing."

I cocked my head. "Did you come up with a job for me?" I asked

"No, it's rather that Elizabeth and I decided it might be more beneficial for someone else to teach you."

I scowled. "So what you're really saying is that 'dear sweet Lizzie' pitched a fit and forbade you from speaking to me. Basically."

Will ignored me and went above deck. "Ragetti and Pintel have offered to keep a close eye on you. You should get along with them just fine."

_Offered at the point of a sword more likely. _I grumbled to myself. But Ragetti and Pintel were two of my favorites characters in Pirates so I figured it couldn't be all bad. Although they didn't look so creepy and repugnant on the big screen. For being on a ship it was obvious they hadn't touched water in weeks. Ragetti's hair was smeared to the top of his sunburned forehead with grease and grime. There were two tracks of clean-ish skin running down his forehead and cheeks, presumably from sweat. He really wouldn't have looked bad if he had shaved his _way_ past five O'clock shadow every so often. Pintel was a little grosser, simply because he was rounder, and sweatier, which made him smell much worse. His whole balding head was sunburned to a blistering mess, and there were small pieces of food stuck in his beard that I imagined he'd eat when times were hard. Obviously at that point I was majorly grossing myself out and had to take a moment to get my gag reflex under control.

"Lily, this is Argus Pintel and Bailey Ragetti. Pintel, Ragetti, this is Lillian Groves."

"Please, call me Lily." I said weakly, bracing myself on a cannon.

Will looked up to the wheel, where Elizabeth was giving him the evil eye. "Well, I'll uh, just leave you three to it then."

I sighed and sat on the deck. "Whipsh," I mumbled at Will's retreating back. "That girl's got you on a short leash."

"Well girlie, don't get into any trouble alright? We'll be below deck if you need us." Pintel said grinning and showing his rotted teeth. _Excuse me; I think I need a bucket._

"Wait! Will said you had to keep an eye on me. And I want to learn about sailing." I pouted

"And what, per say is in it for us?" Pintel replied.

I wracked my brain for a suitable trade. "I'll teach you to read." I offered.

Ragetti's eyes- or should I say eye? - widened. "You mean you can read?" I nodded. " Then it would be an honor, Miss Lily to ameliorate your education in maritime terms."

I giggled. "And what about you Pintel? Would you care to learn as well? I'd be more than happy to teach you."

Pintel looked towards the hallway leading below deck and then back at Ragetti and I. "Well, can't hurt me any, can it?"

I smiled. "Not really I don't think. Now, what do you two know about the alphabet?"

"You mean like the A B C's?" I nodded. "That's all."

My jaw dropped. "All you know is A B C?" The pirates nodded. "Okay then, that's where we'll start. Now there's a song that always helps me remember them, how are you at memorizing songs?"

"Now I know my A - B - C's. Next time won't you sing with me!" seeing two grown men, let alone pirates, singing the Alphabet song at the top of their lungs was undoubtedly one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

"Very good. Now we'll start on the sounds the letters make. Now an A can make a noise like ă, like in apple, or ā like in card. B sounds like the b in baby." I could tell I was loosing them. "Actually, how about you teach me something about ships? That way I can make this part more interesting."

Ragetti lifted his head from his hand slowly and looked around for a moment, yawning. "Yes, well the right side of the ship is called the Starboard side. The left is the port side. The front is the bow, and the back is the stern. The helm is where the captain stands and steers the ship."

I nodded. "Let me try." I stood up, closed my eyes, and spun around a few times. When I opened them again I got my bearings and tried to name what I saw. "So the port side is this way, and that's the stern. Up there's the helm, and there's two masts here, and here. Right?"

Ragetti nodded. "So how does that help us read?"

I grabbed a nearby bucket of water and sat it on deck. I dipped my finger in the water and spelled out **helm** on the wood. "This is the word helm, okay? And each letter has a different sound, which contributes to the pronunciation. So the H makes an 'h sound, and the E makes an e sound, L is ll and M is mmm. if you put it all together it sounds like h.e.l.m., got it?"

Pintel looked at me blankly and then coughed. "Well, I'll be below deck if you'll be needin' me. Good luck mate." He said, patting Ragetti on the shoulder and making his way to the stairs.

Slowly Ragetti and I worked on other easier words like water, port, mast, and -at his request- God. _Because once you've learned to spell it it makes everything better._ I smiled, watching the concentration on his face. It was interrupted by a loud cry of 'Dinner', which meant immediately everyone dropped what they were doing to run to the galley. I, on the other hand, wasn't starving due to a day of hard labor, so I calmly rose to my feet and followed the crowd of pirates below deck.

The food was unappetizing to say the least. As far as I could see the main ingredients in the stew-like concoction was alcohol and lard. I saw a few lonely, shriveled carrots that I quickly snatched up, and off of nearby plates. Seemed I wasn't the only one stealing, I saw many of the crew taking morsels for themselves. I smiled, thinking of back home when I would take food off of Ruth's plate and turn to see Jan taking some off of mine.

After I had all I could stomach I got up (as there wasn't much call to excuse myself) and went to my bedroom. It finally hit me that I was sharing the _quite small_ bed with Elizabeth. Will's fiancé. The woman that hates me with the passion of a thousand suns. I just as quickly decided to relocate-and fast.

"Erm, Captain? This room here, what's it used for?"

Barbossa sighed and peaked in quickly. "That's for the rum lass. These barrels are empty but for the barren bottles." He spoke to me like one would to a small child.

I frowned, but an idea started to form regardless. "Do you think I could stay in there? I know I can rig something up to stay safe."

Barbossa wrinkled his brow and after a few moments sighed. "Alright lass. But be quiet about it. No one need know where you be sleepin'"

I nodded. "Yes sir."


End file.
